Field of the Invention
Embodiments generally relate to the mounting of wearable ballistic body armor plates and accessories to military and law enforcement personnel and other individual people.
Description of the Related Art
People in current military and law enforcement units are required to wear hard ballistic armor plates and flexible soft armor plates. In addition, the people in these units must also be able to carry extra equipment to allow them to accomplish their mission. Most of these extra pieces of equipment are typically carried by pouches worn by the individual person. These pouches plus the hard and soft armor pieces are attached to the upper torso of an individual via a soft material sewn in such a fashion that it carries these pieces. The resulting vest is typically referred to as a load bearing vest or tactical vest.
In an attempt to meet the demands of carrying a variety of tactical equipment, manufacturers must make tactical vest designs that have a modular attachment system, which adds unnecessary material and bulk to the tactical vest. These tactical vests are all sewn pieces of nylon material, which must wrap the armor plates and have a closure flap to prevent the plate from falling out.
The materials sewn are also not resistant to the absorption of liquids and chemicals. Once these materials become impregnated with a liquid that is harmful, they are considered useless and disposed of promptly. If the same tactical nylon material is immersed in water, it absorbs a substantial amount of water and takes on that unnecessary weight until it can be dried out.
As the demand increases to decrease the overall weight of this equipment and provide resistance to liquids and chemicals, the need exists to provide military and law enforcement units and other individuals an integrated light weight streamlined armor carrier.